Boardwalk Empire pistols, New York cop show Glocks, and samurai swords for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles—they all come from a nondescript armory tucked away in lower Manhattan.

Come With Us to Prop Weapon Headquarters

Come With Us to Prop Weapon Headquarters

No sign marks the New York City headquarters of The Specialists, Ltd. The home of your favorite movie weapons is hiding in plain sight in lower Manhattan, a plain white door on a cobblestone street, wedged between furniture stores, art galleries, and boutiques. Overhead cameras cover the white door, a hint of the intense security inside.

The Specialists are the guys the prop masters for movies, television shows, and theatre productions call to supply high-fidelity weapons and gear. If you need an ATM that blows fake money, a blunderbuss for a pirate, or a straightedge razor that spouts blood, they are the ones to call. The firm has been around for more than 30 years; it has a warehouse of rentable wares in New York and a larger one somewhere in Las Vegas. What they don’t have, they can make.

PopMech dropped by The Specialists to peruse its wares and manhandle the props, including swords, phony badges, rocket launchers, rifles from every age, and enough handguns for a hundred Dirty Harry movies. Take a look inside the ultimate toy closet.

Some of the guns are ready to fire, some are demilitarized, and others are replicas. The types are designated by a color-coded ID system. Each room with weaponry has bank-vault doors and security cameras.